Category: The 50’s

Today’s classic film recommendation is Juan Antonio Bardem’s masterful “Death of a Cyclist”, released in the mid 1950’s under the Franco regime. It’s clear that Bardem’s aim was to criticize the huge gap between the poor and the rich, which explains why the movie was censored and Bardem […]

Way before “ Boyhood ”, François Roland Truffaut, French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic, as well as one of the founders of the French New Wave, directed “ Les 400 coups ” (“ The 400 blows ”), a childhood movie featuring his own alter ego: Antoine Doinel. Years later, Doinel appears in […]

I find it quite ironic that this is the last movie I ever saw with my granddad. Ironic because, unlike many Chaplin movies, this one is tragic. Ironic because my granddad passed away a few months later. Looking back at “Limelight”, there’s always a bittersweet feeling. Even when […]

Henri-Georges Clouzot’s most notorious film is still terrifying almost 60 years later. An unmerciful school master (Paul Meurisse, terrific) is murdered by his long suffering wife (Vera Clouzot) and mistress (Simone Signoret). But then strange things start to happen. Haunting, exciting thriller will you keep you guessing at every […]

In this terrifying tale of Good vs Evil, Robert Mitchum plays a “preacher” who roams the countryside, spreading the gospel, and leaving murdered women in the wake. His knuckles eerily tattooed with “love” and “hate”, he strongly believes that the work of God has more to do with condemning […]

What can you say in a few words about a four hour movie that depicts the life of Moses, the Egyptian prince who learned of his true heritage as a Hebrew and who became the deliverer of his people? Let’s try “perfection”, which is what director Cecil B. DeMille achieved […]

While not quite in the same league as “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” (possibly the duo’s best movie), “A&C meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (what a long title) is still a fine vehicle for the boys, and shows that they were still in excellent form even after […]

So here I am again, drawn into yet another Abbott and Costello movie. After meeting up with Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Wolfman, the boys finally got to hang out with the Invisible man this time around. All of these films were among their best work-solid entertainment and a […]

The opening scene in “Sunset Blvd.” became one of the most iconic sequences in cinema history. We meet Joe Gillis, an unemployed screenwriter, in a very unusual way. He’s floating dead in a swimming pool, recounting his doomed personal and professional involvment with megalomaniac silent movie star Norma […]

One of the most interesting things about this movie is the fact that it was a flop at the time of its release. Hitchcock instantly blamed James Stewart, saying he was “too old to attract audiences anymore”. The two never worked together again, eventhough Stewart was the original […]